Category Archives: Embroidery Resources

“I was going to use the Trebizond for the cover because it’s so shiny and pretty. But I didn’t like working with the silk. Let me be more specific. I did not like working with stranded Trebizond. I will do some more research to find out if there is a way to handle stranding the twisted silk so it will handle more neatly in the stitching.”

The word journey keeps coming up for me these days. Of course, thinking about the word journey leads me to think about blackwork stitching, especially reversible blackwork. (We’ll look at blackwork journeys much more closely in the future.)

Since I’ve started my virtual apprenticeship with Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo to learn the process of creating Tibetan Buddhist thangkas, I was reminded that concentrating on the end product is not as valuable as attending to what is learned in “the journey.”

This is so true when I consider my impetuous and rather simple-minded plan to design a blackwork sampler. By the time I’ve completed the design I will have learned about

thread and it’s interaction with ground fabric and one thread’s relationship to other threads

shading in blackwork by working with different numbers of strands of thread as well as different weights of thread

the process of design, kind of like how a child learns plaids don’t necessarily go with paisley

cultures that have been using blackwork in their designs for centuries

to slow down and look more closely at details, the small bits.(I’ve always been a big picture kind of person.) This requires a bit a patience

to accept that this blog is about sharing with others and documenting my process and interaction with blackwork embroidery. It is not about producing something that will earn me followers and get big numbers. (Although it is always nice to know you are not the Lone Ranger!)

loads about balance, not just in design, but in daily life. I’ve always been kind of an all or nothing sort of person. But so much is missed when you don’t follow “the middle way,” looking all ways along the way.

I am enjoying this journey. And, after all, stitching is supposed to be fun!

What does your stitching life teach you? How has stitching changed your life in little ways or big? What kind of Journey are you taking? Are you on the Blackwork Journey with me?

I’d forgotten it’s on my wish list of threads to buy and try. It is a lovely, shiney 3-ply twisted silk from Access Commodities. Your finer embroidery suppliers will have it or know how to get it. Or you can click on the links in Mary’s article!

And guess what?! There’s activity in the “egg.” It’s about to hatch! And you get to watch. This is what candling has revealed.

I transcribed this pattern from a DMC publication written by Thérèse de Dillmont. I believe it was published in 1908 as it is the Second Book. There was another published in 1890, the year of Thérèse de Dillmont’s death. Her niece, also named Thérèse de Dillmont, continue writing for DMC after 1890.

I found my copy of this pattern book at the Antique Pattern Library. If you have not checked this resource out yet, you are missing out on an incredible treasure, just like Project Gutenberg. On the home page of the Pattern Library, click on the catalog tab. Then click on the technique tab and choose the type of pattern you are looking for. DO NOT let the fact that many of the pattern books are in non-English languages. Find yourself a translation tool at Google and you are home—Free!

Yes these patterns are free for you to use as there are no longer copyright holders to the text. However, you Do Not own the pattern. The person who approved the scan owns the pattern, thus is technically the copyright holder according to the Creative Common Licensing regulations. In this case that would be: s cans donated by Sytske Wijnsma, edited Judith Adele 2006.

Bottom line, if you decide to use this pattern, you MUST give the total reference including title of the work, original author, and the owner of the hard copy. But is that really such a big deal? I think not! (Oh, yeah, ignore the arrows before you use this pattern, my software wouldn’t let me remove them.)

Since I had a Major allergic reaction today, I’m going to end this lesson for today. Tomorrow you’ll get to see what is going to happen to this little Coptic motif.